Conservative Talk Radio

Free speech is free speech.

I find their tone nasty and irritating, but they get advertisers (meaning listeners) so they pay for themselves - so they get to be there.

If our nation goes down the toilet because the nasty people take over via radio, then that's our fate and we are a "failed experiment" in history. Maybe free speech will be our downfall.

But I doubt it.

Most people take it all in stride, I think. Some extreme things will get by, others won't. Hasn't it always been that way?

I just hope someday enough of America grows up enough to call bad manners "bad manners" and people will start talking nicer on the radio. Until then, I won't listen to them. I used to - I tried - but they're so expensive on the nerves and all for tempests in teapots.

Lex : You gave 9 reasons why liberal talk radio doesn't thrive. I don't accept any of them. There's primarily one reason. FEAR. Liberal callers don't call because
they'd be speaking out against big business, who controls their livelihoods. Right
wingers don't have this problem, so they can fire away with no fear of retribution from their employers.

CONservative talk radio was not brought into markets because of demand from listeners. It was brought it by brute force, from large corporations that bought up massive numbers of radio stations and crammed the programming down the public's throats. Limbaugh was a hack loser, barely even able to keep a job in radio, when Clear Channel bought him and offered his 3 hours of daily hate and lie diatribe to each of their stations, free of charge, in exchange for national ad revenues. That's not the "free market." That's bully tactics.

I just had this discussion on another thread. Progressive radio does quite well when it competes head to head with CONservative programming. There are some progressive voices that beat some of the goliaths on the "right" in markets in which they compete head to head. There is simply no truth to the statement that progressive radio is a failure because nobody wants to listen to it. The fact is that it is simply not available in many markets, because CONservatives have bought up all of the airwaves.

The nation polls decidedly progressive. On every issue of the day, the majority is in agreement with progressive ideals. It simply defies logic to assume that, although the nation is predominately progressive, they only want to hear right wing opinions.

Something needs to be done to restore some balance. I don't know if the fairness doctrine is the answer or not, but something needs to be done. Certainly, starting with ending monopolies, such as Clear Channel would go a long way to leveling things out a bit.

As usual, Baby Hughy has nothing but his distorted, twisted, factless opinion to offer. Thanks for never disappointing us by actually providing anything worthy of reading.

Just what the HELL is so damn entertaining about hearing idiots spew hate and lies in everyones face everyday? I don't find it "entertaining" at all! Radio hosts in Rwanda did the same thing, and people took to the streets with machetes and machine guns to murder their neighbors. I find the Savages of the world partisan HACKS, losers with nothing more to offer than hot air, and completely ANTI-truth, who scream to keep themselves noticed when anyone with an ounce of sense and a working BS detector would see right thru them. I could go on but I'm already sick that I wasted this much time responding to this crap.

Uh oh it's Clark Kent, the answer to the question nobody asked.

Lex it's not even worth you're time trying to reason with leftist losers like Clark. He probably thinks that the print media in this nation is objective and fair when we all know it leans to the left. That's allowed though. When something is biased to the left it's a-ok but when something is biased to the right it is evil and must be silences. That's pretty much the leftist's view of free speech. Then they have the nerve to call anyone who disagrees with them fascists.

" Uh oh it's Clark Kent, the answer to the question nobody asked."

Weak. You'd think, if you were so chock full of truths, that you could offer some now and then, instead of just tossing out pussified little insults. Is it any wonder that people mock you freaks? You just can't seem to resist the urge to show others just how pathetic you are.

Hate to break it to you Clark but you're the freak. I used to laugh at you but now just pity you. I still haven't figured out how someone can be so ipassionately ignorant and uninformed.

Ok, hunny buns. It breaks my heart, though. I really thought you could produce at least one tiny shred of factual documentation to back your claim, but I guess not. So be it. Is it hard to breathe with your head so far up your anus?

Why doesn't the left buy up radio stations if that's all it takes. Hmmm?

By the logic of this "fairness" doctrine because I bought out my competition the remaining competition should be able to use my equipment and sell their services to my customers even though I pay the taxes and paid for the equipment. To be fair I should give my competition every other job that I get so that it's "Fair".
Is that what we're proposing here? The government telling business owners you pay for everything but we're going to tell you how to run your business.
Doesn't sound fair to me.
Ok people now tell me how these are "TWO DIFFERENT THINGS".

And would this "fairness" doctrine also apply to the left-leaning national television media?

First of all, I agree with the caller who said that the liberals already control the printed media. Second, the country cannot be "taken over" by voices on the radio, that is a very exagerrated and unrealistic fear. Meanwhile, none of you, including Tom Ashbrook, really explore what has caused the current "conservative" upswing, which is simply globalization. Fifty years ago, this country bought all its own goods and needed no one else's, we were economically self-sufficient. Now we produce litttle technology of real worth or which other countries have not completely co-opted. Globalization is the first true economic threat to happen to us since the Great Depression, and that is why conservatives suddenly have lost patience and generosity for the left and become paranoid. Until we reach a new economic parity and self-sufficiency, the conservatives will rule the polity and the airwaves. America right now does not have the luxury or largess for progressive social agendas, and the left has no critical insight to handle economic crisis or defense, they simply don't see the real threat, and are therefore unfit to rule. The only real threat to our standard of living is not terrorism, but the trade deficit. Hence, our foreign policy will continue to be based on protecting our economic and oil interests around the world.

The (on)point that is important here is it doesn't matter if liberals own newspapers or conservatives own magazines...

everyone owns the airwaves. Radio stations rent their licenses from the public --- via the FCC --- and are reviewed every so often. Think of the US interstate, should some cities only have republican roads? Don't answer that --- cities should have roads that all cars can drive on and radio stations that provide a spectrum. Maybe not unbias, but a choice of bias.

There are no real conservatives on talk radio, at least none that I know of.

Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, etc., are all neocons. They are Republican party hacks and propagandists, and anyone who still thinks the GOP is "conservative" need only consider who their current presidential "front-runner" is; the pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control, pro-big government, pro-North American Union, pro-interventionist foreign policy, Rudy Giuliani.

Just professing to have religious faith and claiming to be "tough on terrorism" does not equal "conservative." Giuliani, Romney, and McCain are have big government platforms, they just sprinkle their rhetoric with the same old sloganeering thats traditionally been used to convince voters that they are "conservative."

The GOP is now the Neocon party, and Neocons are collectivists just like the Socialists in the Democratic party. They are just opposite sides of the same coin. No matter which party you vote for, you're voting for collectivism. That is the trick, the illusion qhich is maintained with the help of the Neocon propaganda that now passes for "conservative" talk radio.

The real conservative says "Give me Liberty, or give me death," the collectivist Neocon says "Go ahead and nullify the Bill of Rights, just please protect us from the evildoers."

One of the things that Bill Mahr said many years ago (paraphrased): "I'm a conservative, but conservatives don't act like conservatives. The should not want to be in my bedroom and they should stop spending my money"

I agree with that..

to bachman's point

everyone finds the center during an election year. I agree that Giliani is very moderate when it comes to his politics, but I think he has become more moderate (if possible) as he has gon on to seek the presidency.

Wouldn't be great if once and a while you could vote for a different coin?

As Emil explained to Nelly Forbush (There's a strange prophetic patrynym), 'You've got to be carefully taught'.

To do The Limbaugh, just see how low you can go.